[Airway rescue in a patient with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and impossible ventilation after induction of general anesthesia].

We report the successful rescue ventilation of a patient with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome after induction of general anesthesia using the i-gel supraglottic airway device. A 55-year-old man was scheduled for resection of a cerebellopontine angle tumor. He suffered from severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and routinely used continuous positive airway pressure. His apnea hypopnea index was 57.8. Manual assisted ventilation following propofol and fentanyl administration was successful. On rocuronium administration, manual ventilation became impossible and oropharyngeal airway could not release this condition. We immediately inserted the i-gel device to provide sufficient ventilation. As tracheal intubation with the i-gel device was difficult, we intubated a spiral tube (internal diameter, 8.0 mm) using the Pentax-AWS Airwayscope. Our findings suggest that the i-gel device may be useful for emergent airway rescue in the event of impossible ventilation for patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.